Let’s talk Roster! 2026/2027

[Home Jersey]

Basically? 

We really need Harris and Sisley to be solid for 20-25+ mpg when needed. 

And to avoid injuries / chronic foul trouble, especially with Yig and Sherrell.

[WayneFleekHoosier]

My issue is the total punting on spots 11-13.  Always has been my issue. I’d much rather get guys that might pop that are older with possible high upside than Monden who is basically a walk on and Sokolov is along the right idea but get the 21-22 YO version of Sokolov. Those Euro guys aren’t very expensive. 
 

I think we should have kept Dorn/Miles and Harris then grab an Elder Sokolov.  Roster would be vastly improved.  

Edited Monday at 09:37 PM by WayneFleekHoosier

[Demo]

3 hours ago, Home Jersey said:

Basically? 

We really need Harris and Sisley to be solid for 20-25+ mpg when needed. 

And to avoid injuries / chronic foul trouble, especially with Yig and Sherrell.

Yig’s fouls are a thing. Kid averaged something like 3.5 fouls in, I believe, 27-28 mins a game. That’s a lot of fouls, though maybe the B1G style mitigates some of that. But the way they’ve built this thing makes it pretty obvious that they think Sisley’s a 25ish minute player. Not sure I buy that, but it’s probably defensible.

[WayneFleekHoosier]

25 minutes ago, Demo said:

Yig’s fouls are a thing. Kid averaged something like 3.5 fouls in, I believe, 27-28 mins a game. That’s a lot of fouls, though maybe the B1G style mitigates some of that. But the way they’ve built this thing makes it pretty obvious that they think Sisley’s a 25ish minute player. Not sure I buy that, but it’s probably defensible.

I agree with this.  Sisley is gonna play a lot.  And I think that’s a good thing.  His complete and utter loss of confidence shooting the ball from all 3 levels plus the FT line made him hard to play last year.  If he gets slotted as a change of pace 4 that can run the floor and finish in transition that can become his niche.  Whereas, at the 3, if the shooting isn’t fixed he shrinks the floor enormously.  So, for me, until he proves he can shoot it with average numbers he’s a 4.  If he magically fixes the shooting then he’s a Swiss Army knife that can play 2-5, and be a DeVries-like 5 in times of utter need.  
 

Sisley, Mustaf, Harris, Pam.  The level of our success will rest on the health of Burton/Sherrill and the level of readiness of the abovementioned 4. 

[HoosierHoopster]

Remains to be seen, but I think Sisley hit the frosh wall. He started out strong, kid has the heart and showed he has a pretty decent game that’s developing. He’s in good position to have the frosh to soph jump, at the 4 not the 3.

[RaceToTheTop]

1 hour ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

 

Sisley, Mustaf, Harris, Pam.  The level of our success will rest on the health of Burton/Sherrill and the level of readiness of the abovementioned 4. 

Health being the biggest key IMO.

Sign.another.playable.big.

[ronzo4IU]

2 hours ago, RaceToTheTop said:

Health being the biggest key IMO.

Sign.another.playable.big.

Most likely a day late and a dollar short. Kinda to bad though because we have the recipe for something special minus a  crucial component. Put the eggs in the basket of development and hope it comes true.

[ronzo4IU]

I was just thinking about the fact that this staff prioritizes having more of a fresh rotation between the guard/wings versus the Bigs.

It might work with the size we have this year in those positions,…and if player development comes to fruition. Going to be interesting for sure!

[AH1971]

On 6/15/2026 at 5:36 PM, WayneFleekHoosier said:

My issue is the total punting on spots 11-13.  Always has been my issue. I’d much rather get guys that might pop that are older with possible high upside than Monden who is basically a walk on and Sokolov is along the right idea but get the 21-22 YO version of Sokolov. Those Euro guys aren’t very expensive. 
 

I think we should have kept Dorn/Miles and Harris then grab an Elder Sokolov.  Roster would be vastly improved.  

Being generous. We pretty much punted on spots 6-13. Sisley and Harris being 6th and 7th men don't inspire much confidence. Really wish with a GM who got a head start on the portal that we'd moneyball some production off the bench. Instead, we're relying on true freshman and guys who have gotten minimal run. Could have a few break out guys, could have none...big risk.

[Stuhoo]

9 minutes ago, AH1971 said:

Being generous. We pretty much punted on spots 6-13. Sisley and Harris being 6th and 7th men don't inspire much confidence. Really wish with a GM who got a head start on the portal that we'd moneyball some production off the bench. Instead, we're relying on true freshman and guys who have gotten minimal run. Could have a few break out guys, could have none...big risk.

Nothing that spending  an extra $3-5 million that we didn't have wouldn't have cured!    ;)

[AH1971]

1 minute ago, Stuhoo said:

Nothing that spending  an extra $3-5 million that we didn't have wouldn't have cured!    ;)

Is that just a different way of saying we didn't budget wisely? If so, agreed completely. 

 

[Stuhoo]

12 minutes ago, AH1971 said:

Is that just a different way of saying we didn't budget wisely? If so, agreed completely. 

 

Maybe...

We agree on some of this; I have a general opinion that if we believe that PAlex Moody is an instant rotation player, we could have spent on an experienced backup big rather than Harris or Lindsay.

But my opinion is just that, and I'm sane enough to understand that I have MUCH less information than the staff about the development of Sisley, the potential of Sokolov, and the ability of Moody, Karvala, and Manherz to contribute immediately.

It will be interesting to find out. We will be in a position of having experienced/well-regarded depth if we have an injury at the 1-3 spots, but at the cost of depth on the front line.

Finally, I am well-aware that it is really hard and expensive to build a ranked-team roster when the current staff has no record of P4 winning and no NBA development examples to feature, and the 20 year history of the program has been lousy. That puts stress on the budget and means that there were going to be roster gaps that we need to roll the dice on.

 

[Home Jersey]

Last year we went with a true money ball approach and none of us were happy with the result. 

This time around they've kind of done a 180 and decided to spend heavy at the top.

Seems like a staff still figuring things out. I appreciate the willingness to pivot when it's needed. We will see how the execution plays out this time around.

Hopefully the net result of this year is we have a good core of returners next year and can use the portal to add a couple big time difference makers. 

[ronzo4IU]

On 6/15/2026 at 5:36 PM, WayneFleekHoosier said:

My issue is the total punting on spots 11-13.  Always has been my issue. I’d much rather get guys that might pop that are older with possible high upside than Monden who is basically a walk on and Sokolov is along the right idea but get the 21-22 YO version of Sokolov. Those Euro guys aren’t very expensive. 
 

I think we should have kept Dorn/Miles and Harris then grab an Elder Sokolov.  Roster would be vastly improved.  

I agree, but Elder Sokolov would have many more suitors if he turned out any good vs Jr. Sokolov, so we roll the dice on Jr. and pray since IU donors are a bunch of misers.

[Home Jersey]

Just now, ronzo4IU said:

and pray since IU donors are a bunch of misers.

I totally get the gripes with the roster but this is just not the case.

By all reports our basketball spend is close to $20M this year and our national champion football team also has a player payroll that's among the highest in the nation.

There's plenty of money available, the coaches just need to use it effectively. Dolson and the AD seem to have done a good job of monetizing the football success and investing in the fledgling flagship program that is IUBB.

We play in Peru in about a month. And IUFB will be here before we know it. Super excited for that. 

[Pagoda]

16 minutes ago, ronzo4IU said:

I agree, but Elder Sokolov would have many more suitors if he turned out any good vs Jr. Sokolov, so we roll the dice on Jr. and pray since IU donors are a bunch of misers.

Come on.  We're borderline top-10 roster spend in CFB and something like #7-10 in MBB. 

BY FAR the main driver of revenue for an athletic dept is the football stadium.  And ours is about half the size of the big boys, a HUGE disadvantage.  Yet our roster spend in FB and MBB is right there with the biggest athletic depts.  That's thanks to our donors.

We are giving basketball plenty of money, especially for how much they've stunk.  Sometimes I worry we're giving MBB too much money... send it to Cig?  We need the damn staff to use it wisely.  Depth is only going to come from scouting/development/retention -- IU along with almost every other school cannot buy it.  We'll see if this staff can do it.  I'm worried, but it's possible they figure it out.

[AH1971]

16 minutes ago, Home Jersey said:

By all reports our basketball spend is close to $20M this year

IF that is the case, it wasn't spent very wisely. A $20M roster shouldn't have this many glaring holes and weaknesses. 3 point shooting is minimal and the lack of depth is a complete mystery. I don't understand the approach if we truly had that much money. 

[Home Jersey]

15 minutes ago, AH1971 said:

IF that is the case, it wasn't spent very wisely. A $20M roster shouldn't have this many glaring holes and weaknesses. 3 point shooting is minimal and the lack of depth is a complete mystery. I don't understand the approach if we truly had that much money. 

I think it's more than fair to say there's a lot of question marks with the roster and program heading into Y2.

Even so, we should have more P5 talent and size on this roster, so I'm content to wait and see how they do. Plenty of good reasons to be skeptical which have been covered at length already.

For me, as long as Cig is here, it will be more enjoyable to focus on and enjoy IUFB in the offseasons.

[Stuhoo]

16 minutes ago, AH1971 said:

IF that is the case, it wasn't spent very wisely. A $20M roster shouldn't have this many glaring holes and weaknesses. 3 point shooting is minimal and the lack of depth is a complete mystery. I don't understand the approach if we truly had that much money. 

• Three point shooting is not minimal. Harris, Sherrell, Lindsay are all expected to be reasonably accomplished three point shooters, and Burton, Mustaf, and Sisley all have three point capability. And all six of them are in our likely top eight projected minutes players.
• Lack of depth for true bigs? Yes. For the 1-3 spots? No.

The constant griping about the roster, which was assembled for a school with a staff with no NBA success stories and a program with a multi-decade record of mediocrity is, for me, a real detachment from reality.

So let me ask you this:

Can you name a P4 program

1. As 'meh' as IU and
2. With as many holes to fill

That assembled a better roster? Put your money where your mouth is - show me an example of a school in a similar situation with a roster that does not offend you.

[AH1971]

18 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

• Three point shooting is not minimal. Harris, Sherrell, Lindsay are all expected to be reasonably accomplished three point shooters, and Burton, Mustaf, and Sisley all have three point capability. And all six of them are in our likely top eight projected minutes players.
• Lack of depth for true bigs? Yes. For the 1-3 spots? No.

The constant griping about the roster, which was assembled for a school with a staff with no NBA success stories and a program with a multi-decade record of mediocrity is, for me, a real detachment from reality.

So let me ask you this:

Can you name a P4 program

1. As 'meh' as IU and
2. With as many holes to fill

That assembled a better roster? Put your money where your mouth is - show me an example of a school in a similar situation with a roster that does not offend you.

How many meh programs are spending $20 million on a basketball roster? How many $20 million rosters are there total in college basketball next year? Of the $20 million rosters in college basketball next year, how many share as many weaknesses as this IU roster? For $20 million, I would have expected a much better constructed roster.